Nation in Information War Waged by Int’l Media: Scholars
Ethiopia is now battling against global information war which requires coordinated public relation responses to reverse the threat, scholars said.
Approached by the Ethiopian News Agency, the experts noted that giant media outlets sponsored by cross-border corporate companies and some Western powers are involved in the ongoing disinformation campaign.
Getachew Nigatu, a political communication expert, said some of the Western media had waged war against Libya, Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan prior to launching military interventions.
“We often see giant Western media outlets like CNN, BBC or other big brands doing un-ethical reporting. The international media were waging war against the countries before invading the countries. Fox News or CNN were , for example, behind the Iraq war conspiracy. The oil companies were behind it.”
Similarly, the media have been intensifying psychological warfare to see a disintegrated Ethiopia in the Horn Africa, even if the evil deeds are being reversed by Ethiopians at home and abroad, the expert added.
Noting that the fake news and the disinformation campaigns are intentional, Getachew cited the glaring distortion of BBC. The corporation reported: “Ethiopia closes schools to boost civil war effort”. This is a lie as secondary school students have been called to support crop harvesting.
The reason why some Western media outlets present distorted information and ignore the principles of journalism on Ethiopia purely stems from a political-economic interest where the country has crucial geostrategic importance in the region, he explained.
Moreover, some of the Western powers seek to establish a puppet government in Ethiopia and various agencies are funding the media in their efforts of the information warfare.
“If this crisis continues, there will be beneficiaries like in Afghanistan, Libya, Syria and Yemen. Therefore, they are eyeing on Ethiopia’s crisis as a new market opportunity, even though the country and its diaspora are aggressively thwarting the danger,” the expert stressed.
Since the ongoing information warfare is threatening Ethiopia, Getachew called on the local media, political and social media activists to come together and reverse the danger.
“We are not only at war with a group or Digital-weyane (a social media army working for terrorist TPLF), but also the entire world which has launched disinformation campaign and psychological warfare against us,” he underscored.
On his part, Addis Ababa University School of Journalism lecturer Abdisa Zarai said the recent Western media pressure on Ethiopia emanates from the foreign policy of the countries that they are situated.
He stated that the US and its allies have been currently using the media as a wing or an army to implement their foreign policy interest in Ethiopia.
Some of these Western media outlets always choose their perspective of narrative in terms of their counties benefits and foreign policy strategies, the scholar noted.
“A media cannot be outside the political economy establishment of the state. The media in the United States reflects the American political and economic structure. Thus, the influence of the Western media that we have been witnessing in Ethiopia stems from its foreign policy.”
The lecturer further stated that some Western powers, particularly the United States, are making clear that the pressure against Ethiopia is due to the emerging relationship of China in the African continent.
Abdisa says that “America has not seen such international competition from China in its history.”
The media pressure on Ethiopia is, therefore, to reverse Chinese expansion both in Ethiopia and Africa, he pointed out.
The expert finally called for organized media engagement and public relation activities to reverse the threat at all levels.
Source: Ethiopia News Agency